Bill Gothard's Back! Total Success Power Teams!

[Rhetorica]

Julie Anne at Spiritual Sounding Board reports on what Bill Gothard has been up to. She even spoke with him on the phone twice.

 

spiritualsoundingboard.com/2014/10/12/bill-gothards-new-programministry-total-success-power-teams/

 

As anyone might imagine, it's the same snake-oil repackaged with a name ripped from the 1980s-era self-help industry.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Not unlike the Maxwells and their latest round of Energize! conferences... :roll:

[16strong]

I'm not surprised, and I think Gothard is coming back because he's always been the stealth figure in the background, able to fade in and out easily, but never entirely present or completely gone. Yes, he manages to be the figure everyone in his ministry worships, but at the same time I feel like he has a clever ability to make it look like it's never truly all about himself. I also think that his huge emphasis on ideals and principles allows him to appear less significant to the ministry as a whole than other religious figures typically do. It's my personal opinion that ATI/Gothard isn't going to go down until the Duggars do.

[thoughtful]

Man, he has some arrogance.

The name sounds like a B-movie superhero group:

Total Success Power Team!

[RosyDaisy]

Son of a bitch! The old fart is like Lazarus!

[laura oz]

^^^ made me laugh :D

[doggie]

Son of a bitch! The old fart is like Lazarus!

or the energizer bunny. he must be hurting all the time away from the young ladies. I knew he would not be down and out for long.

[Phoenix]

Wonderful... the walking dead rise just in time for Halloween. Every time I look at the man I think he appears embalmed.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Ugh, just go away you dirty old perv.

[formergothardite]

I'm not surprised. That man is never going to let go of his power. He is most likely running IBLP from the shadows.

[scc12]

Gothard is their hero and his followers are never going to let him go.Even after death,his devout followers will still be teaching and following his 'principles'.

He is nothing short of a false Christ,and it's a shame some ppl worship him as such.

[Rescinded and Mended]

Ugh, great. Dracula's back in business.

Now I'm wondering if the Duggars are going to send any of their younger daughters to Journey to the Heart to be offered up on the altar of Gothard.

[Palimpsest]

1. You'd think at his age old Bill would be content to dwindle away gracefully but noooo. His ego needs constant massaging.

2. Isn't this just refried ILBP One-Accord Teams?

3. Did he steal the ATI mailing list or was it handed to him?

4. Is it at all possible that between JA's first and second phone calls the IBLP BoD clamped down on him for a premature come-back?

5. Are any of us surprised that he is attempting a come-back?

6. What's with Julie Anne? She says she sat on this for 7 weeks waiting for someone else (comments at RG) to spill the news first. Does she have some moral objection to breaking scandals herself? I find her attitude rather odd.

Finally, if you read through BG's brochure substituting "masturbation" for "this activity" and "meditation" it makes a lot more sense.

[Rhetorica]

1. You'd think at his age old Bill would be content to dwindle away gracefully but noooo. His ego needs constant massaging.

2. Isn't this just refried ILBP One-Accord Teams?

3. Did he steal the ATI mailing list or was it handed to him?

4. Is it at all possible that between JA's first and second phone calls the IBLP BoD clamped down on him for a premature come-back?

5. Are any of us surprised that he is attempting a come-back?

6. What's with Julie Anne? She says she sat on this for 7 weeks waiting for someone else (comments at RG) to spill the news first. Does she have some moral objection to breaking scandals herself? I find her attitude rather odd.

Finally, if you read through BG's brochure substituting "masturbation" for "this activity" and "meditation" it makes a lot more sense.

Regarding #3, I'd bet my lunch he got it as part of the negotiations, perhaps in order to have access to those who have "aught against him" so he could "work towards reconciliation." Slime balls.

As for #4, my guess is that between those phone calls he figured out that she wasn't one of the faithful calling to sign up. If Gothard is at all like the narcissists I have known personally, you can't underestimate his default expectation that all adore him. (Unless of course they don't and then they automatically become instruments of darkness.) As far as he knew, the email was only circulating among his groupies and he's still functioning under a pre-Internet perception of how messages circulate.

I suspect Julie Anne, like many on Recovering Grace, are trying to maintain credibility with the more mainstream but devout people who wander in, assuming the best about these monsters. If Julie Anne appears to be gloating, they will dismiss her message out of hand on the basis that her motivations are suspect. That said, I'm thinking she said something a couple weeks ago indicating there was something brewing. (Although I might be imagining that.)

[formergothardite]

I think she waited so that she could show she gave him time to make it public. I'm also pretty sure that no matter what the official claims are, Gothard has access to whatever he wants in IBLP/ATI.

[Palimpsest]

I agree with Former Gothardite on BG, but I want facts not my gut feelings. Is BG still sitting in the corner office at Headquarters wielding power behind the scenes, or did the BoD actually gave him the boot for real (along with the mailing list in his severance package). Where is a mole when we need one?

On Julie Anne: I respect her usually, because she does try to be careful and judicious, research thoroughly, and go to the source where possible. And, yes, it was giving BG the chance to go public himself. Why wait though? The old molesting monster does not deserve to have his machinations kept secret just because he asks. Why honor Gothard's request to keep it quiet until someone else made it public? She has a lot of credibility but this one still doesn't sit well with me.

This may seem overly critical of Julie Anne, but I think she can be a bit gullible in believing her sources. Also I've been shaking my head over her taking David Gibb III's self-sanitized resume at face value initially. If she had dug a little deeper and been a bit more suspicious she would have uncovered his very recent Old Schoolhouse "mediation" cover-up connection. Not cool, David Gibbs III.

[Palimpsest]

Oy. A true Gothard believer turned up in the comments on SSB.

Karen D

October 13, 2014 @ 10:09 AM

Bill Gothard is a very godly man who had dedicated his life to helping people, cities and nations trust God and trust in God’s word. I think there is currently an evil and coordinated attack against him by godless liberals who can discredit all the rest of us conservative Christians by use of the same measuring stick. IBLP saved my life when I was a teen and the organization is doing such good work all over the world. Like any organization there are difficulties. It certainly has not improved without him. Like any person he can be criticized. But we should be mature Christians and overlook shortcomings of members of our own body. My family and my daughters know and love Bill Gothard. He has never been anything but good to and for us. He advises but there is never any pressure to be his “sheepâ€! We will be standing up for him.

I feel sorry for the delusional Karen D. but FFS!

[browncoatslytherin]

Oy. A true Gothard believer turned up in the comments on SSB.

I feel sorry for the delusional Karen D. but FFS!

oh yes, child molesters should always be overlooked if they are also god-fearing men. in that case, they are just imperfect humans who make mistakes. *eye roll*

[pega127]

Just in time for Jessa and BinBob's wedding!

[browncoatslytherin]

Just in time for Jessa and BinBob's wedding!

hallelujah, a wedding miracle!

[pega127]

hallelujah, a wedding miracle!

Praise Jesus!

[kimberm]

Praise Jesus!

Think he's invited to the wedding? Maybe JB is announcing his triumphant comeback ministry

[Coco]

oh perfect scenario - he comes to the wedding, gets his own creepy groom cake, and some celeb site writes up a great expose connecting the dots between him, his history of molesting girls, the ugly side of the cult, and the Duggars' TRUE beliefs. Complete with links to recoveringgrace.org/

[lemonhead]

I agree with Former Gothardite on BG, but I want facts not my gut feelings. Is BG still sitting in the corner office at Headquarters wielding power behind the scenes, or did the BoD actually gave him the boot for real (along with the mailing list in his severance package). Where is a mole when we need one?

On Julie Anne: I respect her usually, because she does try to be careful and judicious, research thoroughly, and go to the source where possible. And, yes, it was giving BG the chance to go public himself. Why wait though? The old molesting monster does not deserve to have his machinations kept secret just because he asks. Why honor Gothard's request to keep it quiet until someone else made it public? She has a lot of credibility but this one still doesn't sit well with me.

This may seem overly critical of Julie Anne, but I think she can be a bit gullible in believing her sources. Also I've been shaking my head over her taking David Gibb III's self-sanitized resume at face value initially. If she had dug a little deeper and been a bit more suspicious she would have uncovered his very recent Old Schoolhouse "mediation" cover-up connection. Not cool, David Gibbs III.

JA has added a comment responding to the concerns noted here at FJ, at 9:11 a.m.

[Rescinded and Mended]

Did we ever find out if he attended Jill's wedding? Surely some guest would have made a note of it if he did.